The recent presidential election provided a reminder of the increasing diversity of America. Voters sent a clear message to both parties: Modern representative government requires appealing to voters of all backgrounds, in all of the branches of government.

Against that backdrop, James Harris, president of the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, and I are concerned about the future of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Today, no permanent member of the Supreme Court is a person of color. With two seats open - quite possibly the only two seats to be open for a decade to come - both seats should be filled with people of color to provide even close to reasonable representation given the state's diversity. Yet, Gov. Chris Christie has nominated two candidates who would leave the court without any representation of the two largest communities of color in New Jersey, Latinos and African-Americans.

Earlier this year, the state Senate acted wisely to reject two recent nominees, Bruce Harris and Phillip Kwon, because they had serious shortcomings in their qualifications. Cynical and hypocritical are two words that come to mind in contemplating Christie's words at the news conference announcing the picks earlier this week that "we had the chance to confirm an African-American justice, and they turned me down."

Christie was referring to Harris, who was turned down because of his lack of qualifications. This does not absolve him from selecting an African-American who is qualified. As for Latinos, Christie has had five chances to nominate a Latino nominee. He is 0 for 5.

The state has many qualified Latino and African-American jurists in the trial courts and on the Appellate Division, and other outstanding Latino and African-American attorneys of both parties. Many of them are qualified for the Supreme Court with extensive judicial experience or repeated arguments before top state and federal courts, and would be plausible nominees if Christie truly wanted a qualified court that represented all of the communities in New Jersey.

With his new nominees, David Bauman and Robert Hanna, Christie is once again attempting to alter the tradition of ideological balance that has long been a hallmark of the high court. Tradition demands that he nominate at least one progressive Democrat after he has already nominated, and the Senate has already confirmed, conservative Republican Justice Anne Patterson. Christie's efforts to play politics with the high court reflect deep political motives aimed at overturning long-held judicial rulings mandating equal educational opportunities and fair housing, among other issues.

New Jersey, according to the 2010 census, has the 12th-highest percentage of people of color of any state, with Latinos, African-Americans and Asian-Americans making up 40.7 percent of the state's population. Latinos and African-Americans alone already make up one-third of the state, yet would have no representation. People of color accounted for the vast majority of population growth in New Jersey over the last decade and are projected to continue to do so in the future.

It has been a long road toward fair representation in New Jersey government for both African-Americans and Latinos. That representation was diminished in the last several years when Justice John E. Wallace Jr., the court's only black justice, was unceremoniously removed from the Supreme Court by Christie, followed by the retirement of Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto without Christie nominating a Latino to replace him. That left the court without representation from either Latino or African-American jurists, ending two decades of increasing diversity on the high court.

Whoever fills the open Supreme Court seats will shape justice in New Jersey for decades to come. The people entrusted with making such critical decisions should reflect our state's great and growing diversity, which is one of our strengths. The Senate should reject yet another failed package, and Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney should work together to include top-notch African-American and Latino candidates in the next package of nominations.